Total Excess: Photographs by Michael Zagaris

It has been said of Michael Zagaris' photographic oeuvre that it is the "last untouched rock archive." Zagaris was responsible for shooting everyone in the rock music scene in San Francisco in the 1970s, including The Clash, Grateful Dead, Blondie, The Sex Pistols, Bob Dylan, Eric Clapton, Lou Reed and the Velvet Underground, Patti Smith, Led Zeppelin, and many more. Zagaris' photographs are some of the best portraits of their kind. Because a lot of his work was taken for pleasure rather than pay, the vast majority of his archive has remained unseen until now. 'Total Excess' is the complete anthology of his incredible rock photography. AUTHOR: Michael Zagaris (born 1945) grew up in the central valley of California. In 1967 he entered law school and also started working for Robert Kennedy as a speechwriter. The trauma of witnessing Kennedy's assassination at close quarters propelled Zagaris away from politics and law and into photography, and he began covering rock music in San Francisco. He also captured some of the most vital counterculture figures of that period, including Billy Bowers, Divine, Peter Berlin, The Cockettes and Jim Carroll, who used one of Michael's portraits for the cover of his book Basketball Diaries. In 1973 he became a a team photographer for the San Francisco 49ers, and the Oakland A's in 1981, both of which he continues to shoot to this day. Photographs throughout

“Zagaris enjoyed a Zelig-like presence on the 1970s rock scene, photographing everyone from the Grateful Dead to the Clash, Led Zeppelin to Blondie-often offstage with their guards down.”

Capturing the rock scene of the 1970s and '80s as it passed through his hometown of San Francisco, Zagaris's forthcoming title, Total Excess, includes candid portraits of some of music's greatest icons.--Joseph Akel "V Magazine"
His photographs, one of the last, great unseen rock archives, are showcased in a new book, Total Excess, revealing some of the most candid moments of music's greatest icons.-- "Vanity Fair"

It has been said of Michael Zagaris' photographic oeuvre that it is the "last untouched rock archive." Zagaris was responsible for shooting everyone in the rock music scene in San Francisco in the 1970s and '80s, including The Clash, Grateful Dead, Blondie, Sex Pistols, Bob Dylan, Eric Clapton, Lou Reed and the Velvet Underground, Patti Smith, Led Zeppelin, and many more. Zagaris' photographs are some of the best portraits of their kind. Because a lot of his work was taken for pleasure rather than pay, the vast majority of his archive has remained unseen until now. Total Excess is the complete anthology of his incredible rock photography. This is the first book in a series of collaborations between Reel Art Press and Zagaris. Michael Zagaris (born 1945) grew up in the Central Valley of California. In 1967 he entered law school and also started working for Robert Kennedy as a speechwriter. The trauma of witnessing Kennedy's assassination at close quarters propelled Zagaris away from politics and law and into photography, and he began covering rock music in San Francisco. He also captured some of the most vital counterculture figures of that period, including Billy Bowers, Divine, Peter Berlin, The Cockettes and Jim Carroll, who used one of Zagaris' portraits for the cover of his book Basketball Diaries . In 1973 he began as a team photographer for the San Francisco 49ers, and the Oakland As in 1981, both of which he continues to shoot to this day. Zagaris lives in San Francisco.

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